Teenager Mitchell Lawrie aiming to emulate Scottish greats by becoming darts world champion

Aiming to follow in the footsteps of Scottish greats, Mitchell Lawrie is a 14-year-old who is taking darts by storm.

The Renfrew High School pupil started taking the sport seriously when he was aged just nine and now he is aiming to emulate his hero Gary Anderson by becoming a world champion.

Speaking to STV Sport, the teenager said: “I started playing a lot during lockdown in a Monday night online league, and that’s when I started playing a lot, maybe six or seven hours a day, because there wasn’t much else to do in lockdown.

“Then I stopped for a bit, but when we moved house, I started playing again, and that’s when I realised how good I was, and I started doing it competitively.

“I usually practise for around two to two and a half hours a day, and sometimes it can be more but that is the routine that I stick to.”

Mitchell’s love for the arrows became apparent when he was a toddler.

His mum Lynn said: “He was probably around two or three, my dad was big on darts, and I can remember my dad lifting him out of his pram and holding him up so he could play at the dart board, so we bought him his own dart board, then we thought ‘ok let’s get him a real dart board and see where it goes from there’.

“He would just throw away at it, and keep throwing away, and throwing away, and then from there it was every year when the Scottish Open came.”

At just 14, he has already managed to build up an incredible trophy collection, and he has so many that he has lost count.

He said: “I don’t actually know how many I have, there are too many to count now. The standout one is the Europe Youth Cup singles trophy.

“People who have won that include Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting when they were youth players.

Mitchell was inspired after watching fellow Scot Gary Anderson win back-to-back world titles.

In a message to the youngster, Anderson said “When you are on tour, it is a hard shift, and you are away for a long time.

“If this is what you want to do then you have to enjoy it as well. Through darts, I have seen the whole world; it’s an amazing sport to play and a great chance to make a great living.”